Refrigerator with freezing and normal cooling compartments



1959 RE. KOON 2,869,331

REFRIGERATOR WITH FREEZING AND NORMAL COOLING COMPARTMENTS Filed Sept.12. 1955 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 7 INVEN TOR.

fay/22mm [1. K00 W 1 FM Jan. 20, 1959 R. E. KbON 2,869,331

REFRIGERATOR WITH FREEZING" AND NORMAL cooLmc COMPARTMENTS Filed Sept.12, 1955 s Sheets-Sheet 2 I i 77 /6 {W \16 I 4/ J I I n v 55 57 2/ a; 36a5 1 E a Z6 Z7 i R I1 15 '54 a; 57 i 2/ 56 35 I: M 20 I E INVENTOR.fymafla 5/?00/7 Jan. 20, 1 959 iq; O 2,869,331

REFRIGERATOR. WITH FREEZING AND NORMAL COOLING COMPARTMENTS,

Fild Sept. 12, 1955 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 6/ 62 66 i F5 -2 I 3 5 ,64 J 7 I I60 V v I 6Z\ .53 I 5 A 54 v I INVENTOR. Roy/220012. /f00 7 WWW UnitedStates Patent C REFRIGERATDR WITH FREEZING AND NORMAL COGLINGCOMPARTMENTS Raymond E. Koon, Scottville, Mich.

Application September 12, 1955, Serial No. 533,631

10 Claims. (Cl. 62207) ting against the exposed sides of therefrigerator.

Fourth, to provide a combination cooling and freezing refrigerator inwhich the freezing section is normally positioned behind the regularcooling section and is read- .ily accessible through the single door ofthe refrigerator by rotating the shelves of the refrigeratorin theinsulating compartment.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent froma-consideration of the following description and claims. The drawings,of which there are three sheets, illustrate two practical forms of therefrigerator.

.Fig. .l is a fragmentary perspective view of one form of therefrigerator mounted in the corner of a room with cabinets locatedadjacent to the exposed sides of the through the refrigerator takenalong the plane of the line'55 in Fig. 2.

Fig. 6 is a horizontal cross sectional view through a modified formofthe refrigerator taken along'the plane of "the line 6-6 in Fig. 7.

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary vertical cross sectional view taken along theplane of the 'line 7-7 in Fig. 6.

As appears more clearly in Figs. 1 and 2 the first design of'therefrigerator is particularly adapted for mounting in the corner of aroom. However, as will be pointed out presently the invention is notlimited to this feature of therefrigerator. The adjacent walls of a roomwhich join to form a corner are indicated at 1 with the refrigeratorcabinet'generallyindicated at 2 mounted in the corner. The exposed sidewalls of the cabinet extend perpendicularly with respect to the roomwalls and with respect to each other and are joined by a curved frontwall 4. An access opening 5 in the front wall is closed by a door 6. Autility drawer 7 is mounted in the cabinet below the door and aremovable panel 8 above the door provides access to a motor compartmentin the top of the cabinet.

'The standard width kitchen cabinets 9 may abut directly "ice againstthe sidewalls 3 withoutzinterfering with the opening motion of the door6.

The cabinet walls are supported by a sultable inner frame work, portionsof which are indicated at 10. No

claim is made to the specific arrangement of the supporting frame workso it is not described in detail. Positioned within the cabinet and theframe work 10 is a cylindrical body 11 having an outer cylindrical wall12 and an inner .cylindrical wall 13. The ends of the body as appears inFig. 5 consist of inner and outer lower walls 14 and 15 respectively andinner and outer upper wall 16 and ,17 respectively. The space betweenthe inner and outer walls is packed with a suitable insulating material18. The door 6 is also of double walled construction and provided withinsulating material as at 18. Suitable flexible seals are providedaround the door 6 as at 19 to close on the wall of the cabinet.

The lower walls 14 and 15 and the upper walls 16 and 17 are aperturedcentrally of the cylindrical body and receive non-heat conductingannular bearings 20 that are aligned vertically. The bearings rotatablyreceive and support a tubular column 21 that has its ends insulatedagainst conduction of heat through the end walls of the body. Aninsulating thrust block 22 in the bottom of the column is supported onroller bearings 23 carried by a cross member 24 of the cabinet frame.

The space within the cylindrical body is divided by an upright partition.25. The partition 25 includes spaced front and'back walls 26 and 27respectively with insulating material 28 therebetween. The oppositesides of the par- .tition may extend diametrically through thecompartment or may be angled to greater or lesser extent as appears inFig. '2 depending upon the proportion of space to be allotedto the twosections of the refrigerator. The front walls 26 and rear walls'27 ofthe partition are conveniently wrapped around the column 21 as afinishing surface therefore.

The side edges of the partition 25 are provided with deformable sealingstrips 29 which slidably engage the cylindrical inner wall 13 of thebody. These sealing strips are conveniently made of rubber and desirablyhave 'two spaced ribs as illustrated to provide a double seal along thesides of the partition. The upper and lower edges of the partition 25are similarily provided with sealing strips as at 30 (see Fig. 3) sothat the partition and its sealing strips effectively divide thecompartment within the cylindrical body into a forward normal coolingsection 31 having rear freezing section 32.

Secured to the partition 25 and the column 21 by means of suitablebrackets 33 are a number of segmental shaped shelves 34 and anevaporator or cooling unit 35 also in the form of a shelf. Secured tothe other side of the partition by brackets 36 are a plurality ofshelves 37 several of which have'cooling units or evaporators 37 ontheir undersides.

The upper portion of the cabinet above the cylindrical body 18 forms amotor-or compressor compartment 39 within which a motor and compressorcompartment conventionally illustrated at 40 is mounted. The compressorunit-40 is arranged to operate the evaporators 35 and 37 at twodifferent cooling rates or capacities. A variety of refrigeratingsystems will perform this function so the refrigerating circuit orsystem is not described in greater detail. -By way of examplerefrigerant lines 41 to and "from the cooling evaporator 35 may extendupwardly through the tubular column 21 to flexible conduits 42 extendingto a control conventionally illustrated at 43 to the compressor.Refrigerant lines 44 extend upwardly through the tubular column from theevaporators 38 to flexible conduits 45 and the refrigerator control 43.The compressor 40 may operate two separate pump sections or may operatethrough'the control 43 to create different tion engineers.

suction pressures in the evaporators 35 and 38 or the size 'to cool thecompressed refrigerator gases as is common in mechanical refrigeratorsthe rear side of the cylindrical body 12 is provided with a triangularflue 46 that projects into the corner of the room behind therefrigerator. A condenser coil 47 positioned in the flue is connected tothe compressor and the remainder of the refrigerator system, as will beunderstood by refrigera- Air for cooling the condenser enters throughlouvers 48 in the utility drawer 7 and passes rearwardly to the bottomof the flue from where it may rise over the condenser.

In order to prevent continued rotation of the column 21 and shelves 34from twisting the flexible conduits 42 and 45, the interior of thecylindrical body is provided with a stop 49 (see Fig. 2) that coactswith a stop 50 on one of the evaporator shelves 37 to limit rotation ofthe column and the refrigerator shelves to about one revolution.

In operation the freezer evaporators 38 maintain the 'rear freezersection 32 at a low freezing temperature while the evaporator 35maintains the cool section 31 at normally cool temperatures formechanical refrigerators. Those articles of food commonly and frequentlyused or needed from a refrigerator are readily accessible through thedoor 6 at the front of the refrigerator. At less frequent intervalsfrozen foods stored in the back freezer section 32 may be reached byrotating the partition and shelves until the freezer shelves 37 aretemporarily presented at the access opening 5. After putting in ortaking out the desired frozen foods the user returns the partition andshelves to normal position with the shelves 34 again positioned in theregular cooling section 31.

The modified form of the refrigerator shown in Figs. 6 and 7 has acabinet 51 that is rectangular in cross section with an access door 52in one side. If desired the door may be provided wiht shelves 53 on theinside. Positioned in upright relation within the cabinet 51 is aninsulated partition 54 that is rotatably supported as by a central post55. The post need not be centered from front to rear of the cabinet butmay be located closer to the front as illustrated. Semicircular shelves56 are carried on the back side of the partition and rounded shelves 57are carried on the front side of the partition. The outer edges of theshelves 57 are cut off or flattened as at 58 to clear the door 52. Itwill be understood that when the shelves 56 are rotated to the frontthey project through the open doorway. Triangular filler shelves 59 maybe mounted in the corner of the cabinet.

Cooling of the refrigerator is accomplished by one or more evaporators60 positioned in the rear corner of the cabinet where they do notinterfere with the rotation of the partition and the shelves. Theevaporators are connected by conduits 61 to suitable refrigerationapparatus not illustrated. The size and cooling capacity of theevaporators 60 is such as to keep the temperature of the rearcompartment of the cabinet at relative low temperatures for keepingfrozen foods. The temperature in the front compartment of the cabinetbetween the door 52 and the partition 54 is kept at a normally coldtemperature for domestic refrigerators by one or more of severaldifferent cooling devices.

One method for cooling the front compartment of the refrigerator is toprovide coolant tubes 62 in closed circuit with reaches 63 extendingvertically through the rear compartment and reaches 64 extendingvertically through the front compartment. The tubes 62 are filled with aheat transfer liquid such as brine for normal heat and gravitycirculation of the brine through the vertical loops will cool the frontcompartment from the rear compartment. Automatic or manually adjustablecontrols 65 4 positioned in the coolant loops will regulate thetemperature in the front compartment by regulating the flow of theliquid.

Another method of cooling the front compartment from the rearcompartment is to provide vertically spaced openings 66 and 67 in theupper and lower portions respectfully of the partition and to providethese openings with adjustable doors 68 that can be opened and closed toadjust the amount of gravity air circulation from the relatively warmfront compartment through the relatively cold rear compartment.

Since the partition 54 will effectively separate the cabinet into twocompartments only when the partition is engaged with two opposite walls,the seals between the cabinet and the partition are positioned along theopposite side walls of the cabinet as at 69 and also along the top andbottom of the partition as at 70.

Various combinations and modifications of the several features of therefrigerators described can be combined as desired without departingfrom the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the claims.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and isdesired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

- each other and tangent to said body and open at the bottom to thefront of the cabinet through openings formed in the lower portion of thecabinet, said side walls and said body forming a flue at the rear of thecabinet, a hollow column rotatably mounted in an upright positioncentrally of said body and having a nonheat conducting portion extendingthrough the top wall of the body, an insulating partition carried bysaid column within said body and having angularly spaced seals along itsedges slidably engaged with the inner cylindrical wall and inner endwalls of the body, shelves secured to said column and partition onopposite sides of said partition to rotate with said column within saidbody, evaporators secured to the shelves on one side of said partitionand to at least one of the shelves on the other side of the partition,refrigerant conduits carried within said column and connected to saidevaporators, a V compressor positioned in the upper end of said cabinet,a condenser positioned in said flue and connected to said compressor,said conduits extending through said nonheat conducting portion of saidcolumn and having flex- 50 ible sections connected to said compressorand said condenser, coacting stops on said partition and the wall ofsaid body limiting rotation of the partition to less than a completerevolution and control means connected to regulate operation of saidcompressor and said evaporators to maintain different temperatures insaid body on opposite sides of said partition.

2. A refrigerator comprising a cylindrical insulated body havinginsulated top and bottom end walls and a door opening in the front ofthe body closed by an insulated door, a cabinet enclosing and supportingsaid body and having side walls extending at right angles to each otherand tangent to said body at opposite sides of the door, a flue securedin upright position on the back of said body and open at the bottom tothe front of the cabinet through openings formed in the lower portion ofthe cabinet, a hollow column rotatably mounted in an 7 upright positioncentrally of said body and having a nonheat conducting portion extendingthrough an end wall of the body, an insulating partition carried by saidcolumn within said body and having angularly spaced seals along itsedges slidably engaged wiht the inner cylindrical wall and inner endwalls of the body, shelves secured to said column on opposite sides ofsaid partition to rotate with said column within said body, evaporatorssecured to the shelves on one side of said partition and to at least oneof the shelves on the other side :of the partition, refrigerant conduitscarried within said column and connected to said evaporators, acompressor positioned in one end of said cabinet, a condenser positionedin said flue and connected to said compressor, said conduits extendingthrough said non-heat conducting portion of said column and havingflexible sections connected to said compressor and said condenser,coacting stops on said partition and the wall of said body limitingrotation of the partition to less than a complete revolution and controlmeans connected to regulate the operation of said compressor and saidevaporators tomaintain different temperatures in said body on oppositesides of said partition.

3. A refrigerator comprising an insulated body having a cylindricalinner wall and insulated top and bottom end walls and a door opening inthe front of the body closed by an insulated door, a cabinet enclosingand supporting said body and having side walls extending at right anglesto each other and tangent to said body at opposite sides of .the door,aflue secured in upright :position on the backrof said body and open atthe bottom to the front of the cabinet through openings formed in thelower portion of the cabinet, a hollow column rotatably mounted in anupright position centrally of said body, an insulating partition carriedby said column within said body and having seals along its edgesslidably engaged with the inner cylindrical wall and inner end walls ofthe body, shelves mounted on opposite sides of said partition to rotatewith said column within said body, evaporators secured to the shelves onone side of said partition and to at least one of the shelves the otherside of the partition, refrigerant conduits carried by said column andconnected to said evaporators, a compressor positioned in one end ofsaid cabinet, a condenser positioned in said flue and connected to saidcompressor, said conduits having flexible sections connected to saidcompressor and said condenser, coacting stops on said partition and theWall of said body limiting rotation of the partition to less than acomplete revolution, and control means connected to regulate theoperation of said compressor and said evaporators to maintain differenttemperatures in said body on opposite sides of said partition.

4. A refrigerator comprising an insulated body having a cylindricalinner wall and insulated top and bottom end walls and a door opening inthe front of the body closed by an insulated door, a cabinet enclosingand supporting said body, a flue positioned in upright position on theback of said body, a hollow column rotatably mounted in an uprightposition centrally of said body, an insulating partition carried by saidcolumn within said body and having seals along its edges slidablyengaged with the inner cylindrical wall and inner end walls of the body,shelves mounted on opposite sides of said partition to rotate with saidcolumn within said body, evaporators mounted on opposite sides of thepartition, refrigerant conduits carried by said column and connected tosaid evaporators, a compressor positioned in one end of said cabinet, acondenser positioned in said flue and connected to said compressor, saidconduits having flexible sections connected to said compressor and saidcondenser, coacting stops on said partition and the wall of said bodylimiting rotation of the partition to less than a complete revolution,and control means connected to regulate the operation of said compressorand said evaporators to maintain different temperatures in said body onopposite sides of said partition.

5. A refrigerator comprising an insulated body having a cylindricalinner Wall and insulated top and bottom end walls and a door opening inthe front of the body closed by an insulated door, a hollow columnrotatably mounted in an upright position centrally of said body andextending through an end wall of the body, an insulating partitioncarried by said column within said body and having seals ,along itsedges slidably engaged with the inner cylindrical wall and inner endwalls of the body, shelves carried by .said column on opposite sidesofsaid partition to rotate with said column within said 'body,evaporatorstsecured to opposite sides of said partition, refrigerantconduits carried within said column and connected to-said evaporators, acompressor and a condenser positioned outside of said body, saidconduits extending through a portion of said column and having flexiblesections connected to said compressor and said condenser, coacting stopson said partition and the wall of said body limiting rotation ofthepartition to less than a complete revolution, and control meansconnected to regulate "the operation of said compressor andsaidevaporators to maintain different temperatures in said body onopposite sides of saidpartition.

6. A refrigerator comprising an insulated body having a cylindricalinner wall and insulated top and bottom end walls and a door'opening inthe front of the body closed by aninsulated-door, a hollow columnrotatably mounted in an upright position centrally of said body, aninsulating partition carried by said column within said body and havingseals along its edges slidably engaged with the inner cylindrical walland inner end walls of the 'body, shelves carried by said column onopposite sides of said partition to rotate with said column within saidbody, evaporators secured to opposite sides of said partition,refrigerant conduits carried within said column and connected to saidevaporators, a compressor and a condenser positioned outside of saidbody, said conduits having flexible sections connected to saidcompressor and said condenser, coacting stops on said partition and thewall of said body limiting rotation of the partition to less than acomplete revolution, and control means connected to regulate theoperation of said compressor and said evaporators to maintain differenttemperatures in said body on opposite sides of said partition.

7. A refrigerator comprising an insulated body having a cylindricalinner wall and insulated top and bottom end walls and a door opening inthe front of the body closed by an insulated door, a column rotatablymounted in an upright position centrally of the body, an insulatingpartition carried by said column within said body and having seals alongits edges slidably engaged with the inner cylindrical wall and inner endwalls of the body, shelves carried by said partition on opposite sidesof said partition to rotate with said column within said body,evaporators secured on opposite sides of said partition, refrigerantconduits connected to said evaporators, a compressor and condenserpositioned outside of said cabinet, said conduits extending through saidbody and having flexible sections and being connected to said compressorand said condenser, coacting stops on said partition and the wall ofsaid body limiting rotation of the partition to less than a completerevolution, and control means connected to regulate the operation ofsaid compressor and said evaporators to maintain different temperaturesin said body on opposite sides of said partition.

8. A refrigerator comprising an insulated body having a cylindricalinner wall and insulated top and bottom end walls and a door opening inthe front of the body closed by an insulated door, a column mounted inan upright position centrally of the body, an insulating partitioncarried by said column to rotate within said body and having seals alongits edges slidably engaged with the inner cylindrical wall and inner endwalls of the body, shelves carried by said partition on opposite sidesof said partition to rotate within said body, evaporators secured onopposite sides of said partition, refrigerant conduits connected to saidevaporators, a compressor and condenser positioned outside of saidcabinet, said conduits extending through said body and having flexiblesections and being connected to said compressor and said condenser,coacting stops on said partition and the wall of said body limitingrotation of the partition to less than a complete revolution, andcontrol means connected to regulate the operation of said compressor andsaid evaporators to maintain different temperatures in said body onopposite sides of said partition.

9. A refrigerator comprising an insulated body having a cylindricalinner wall and insulated top and bottom end walls and a door opening inthe front of the body closed by an insulated door, a column mounted inan upright position centrally of the body, an insulating partitioncarried by said column to rotate within said body and having seals alongits edges slidably engaged with the inner cylindrical wall and inner endwalls of the body, shelves secured on opposite sides of said partitionto rotate within said body, evaporators positioned within said body onopposite sides of said partition, refrigerant conduits connected to saidevaporators, a compressor and condenser positioned outside of saidcabinet, said conduits extending through said body and being connectedto said compressor and said condenser, coacting stops on said partitionand a part fixed on said body limiting rotation of the partition to lessthan a complete revolution, and control means connected to regulate theoperation of said compressor and said evaporators to maintain differenttemperatures in said body on opposite sides of said partition.

10. A combined normal temperature and freezing temperature refrigeratorcomprising a cylindrical body having insulated side and end walls withan opening in the side wall, an insulated door mounted in closingrelation to said opening, a column rotatably mounted in upright positioncentrally of said body, an insulated partition mounted on said column inchordal relation to said body to rotate within the body, evaporatorspositioned on opposite sides of said partition to cool the space withinsaid body on opposite sides of the partition when the partition isgenerally parallel to the door, seals positioned around the edges ofsaid partition to wipingly engage the walls of said body as saidpartition is rotated and to close one side of the body from the other,and refrigeration apparatus connected to operate said evaporators atdifferent cooling rates.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,115,343 Scurlock Apr. 26, 1938 2,297,631 Mitchell Sept. 29, 19422,588,563 Paul Mar. 11, 1952 2,728,199 Kurtz Dec. 27, 1955

